Chixoy Dam

For more than twenty years, communities affected by the Chixoy Dam have demanded reparations for the damages caused by the project, which was built during Guatemala's most repressive military dictatorship. The project, financed by the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, was built on the Chixoy River in the early 1980s and forcibly displaced more than 3,500 Maya Achi community members. More than 6,000 families living in the area also suffered loss of land and livelihoods. When community members opposed relocation and sought better compensation, they were massacred, tortured and kidnapped. For years survivors have lived in extreme poverty but never given up their call for justice.

The Chixoy Dam Legacy Issues Study finished in March of 2005 concludes that the construction of the dam caused loss of lives, lands, and people's livelihoods, and that it violated national and international laws. The study recommended the creation of a negotiations process between the government, communities and financial institutions resulting in a binding agreement.

After several attempts to start a negotiations process, in September 2006 communities and the government of Guatemala signed an agreement to begin a formal process to verify the damages and losses, and negotiations to address reparations. A Commission was set up comprised of representatives of the Guatemalan government, the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, and facilitated by a representative of the Organization of American States.

Compensation for material and non-material damages and losses will be provided to communities affected by Chixoy Dam. The total amount allocated to cover all these damages is US$154.5 million

191 homes will be constructed for the community of Pacux, and for orphans that were not taken into account in INDE's resettlement program; 254 homes in other communities will be repaired; there will be improvement of roads, and water and sewage systems, and other infrastructural projects considered urgent and of priority.

The President of Guatemala will present an apology. The communities will have access to documents in the Historical Archive of the National Police related to the control by the State, and repression used against communities during the construction of the Chixoy Dam.

There will be a management plan of the Chixoy Basin implemented that is based on integrated watershed management, which includes reforestation with native plants, establishing an ecological flow adequate for the basin, and guarantees of minimum water quantity and quality.

However, the government refused to sign the legal agreement which would make the reparations plan binding, and ensure its completion.

"We are all very happy about this news. We began to work for reparations in 1995 and today we heard the great news. We are hoping that the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank and the government of Guatemala do the right thing, sign the government agreement, and begin implementation of reparations" said Carlos Chen Osorio, co-founder of the Association for the Integral Development of the Victims of the Violence Maya Achi (ADIVIMA), as well as director and main negotiator for the Coordination of Communities Affected by the Chixoy Hydroelectric Plant (COCAHICH). We feel that we are not alone and are very grateful to all those that have committed to work on this, and many who have dedicated a lot of their lives to support us."

While the solemn ceremony at the stadium in Rabinal marked the culmination of the negotiations process for Carlos and the rest of the Maya Achi survivors, it also sets the beginning of another long, hard process – repairing the social, cultural, emotional, physical and environmental scars left by the Chixoy Dam. The Guatemalan government still needs to approve the 2015 budget allocating funds to pay for these reparations, and it is still unclear where funds will come from. We remain hopeful and insist that the Banks make no-interest loans to pay their long-due debt to Maya Achi communities affected by the Chixoy Dam.

We know that good government policies can’t bring back the victims of destructive hydropower projects, nor will policies themselves protect the last of our living rivers and the people who depend on them. Yet we celebrate justice long-delayed and the power of our global movement. We will continue to support COCAHICH's efforts, and we will work with the communities to monitor the implementation of the Reparations Plan.

Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this victory for the Maya Achi people of Guatemala.